Nut grading and cracking machine



P. L. ABBOTT Jan. 5, 1943.

NUT GRADING AND CRACKING MACHINE Filed Jan. 5, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet l Per/y L x7660)? INVEN TOR.

ATTORNEY.

Jan. 5, 1943. P. L. ABBOTT 2,307,656

NUT GRADING AND CRACKING MACHINE Filed Jan. 3, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I EN TOR.

ATTORNEY.

Jan. 5, 1943. P. L. ABBOTT 2,307,655

NUT GRADING AND CRACKING MACHINE Filed Jan. 3, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 W H,, fl l Wm M "I"; h /'1 I/JMI l l V /2 f i Per/J L. H b19077 I NV EN TOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 5, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE NUT GRADING AND CRACKING MACHINE Perry L. Abbott, Portland, Oreg.

Application January 3, 1941, Serial No. 373,025

6 Claims. (Cl. 146-12) This invention relates to nut grading and I Figure 6 is an assembled side elevation of my cracking machines and is particularly adapted new and improved nut grading and cracking mafor grading and cracking fllberts and the like. chine.

The primary object of the invention is to de- Figure '7 is a fragmentary detailed sectional sign a machine that will crack and remove the view of another preferred form of mounting the shells from filberts and the like without breaknut cracking jaw within the machine. ing the meat. In the drawings:

Another object of the invention is to design a My new and improved nut grading and crack-' machine for grading the nuts before cracking, ing machine consists of a base I, having a verdelivering the difierent grades within the matical stationary cracking jaw 2 mounted at right chine to the cracking mechanism, said cracking mechanism being graduated in proportions for cracking the different sized nuts simultaneous in one continuous flow of nuts to be processed.

In the cracking of filberts and the like best results can be obtained on compressing the shell of the nut within limits sufllcient to crack the shell and still not injure the meat.

The general run of nuts of this character vary considerable in size, therefore, in order to effectively crack the shells and not injure the meats, it becomes necessary to grade the nuts.

In my new and,improved machine, the grading takes place within the machine.- After the nuts have been graded they are delivered betweencracking jaws, these jaws having a predetermined clearance suitable to receive and properly crack the graded nuts delivered thereto, in order to accommodate the machine to a number of different grades of nuts the cracking jaws are graduated into sections, each section having a difierent clearance to receive the different grades of nuts to be cracked. This feature is the outstanding object of my invention, regardless of whether the nuts are graded within my machine or delivered thereto from another Figure 1-is a sectional side elevation of-mynew and improved nut grader and chine.

Figure 2 is an end elevation, partially in section, said section being taken on line 2-2 of Figure 6, looking in the direction indicated.

Figure 3 is a detail prospective end view of my new and improved graduated nut cracking jaw, which is mounted within the machine.

Figure 4 is a rear view of said cracking jaw made to illustrate an adjusting feature for controlling the stroke of the jaw.

Figure 5 is a plan sectional view, taken on line 5-5 of Figure -1, looking in the direction indicated.

cracking maangles thereto and held in this position by the end walls 3. In the drawings I have illustrated this assembly as being one solid casting, but I do not wish to be limited to this particular construction.

Plvotally mounted upon the base I and acUacent the jaw 2 is a movable cracking jaw 4, this jaw is pivotally mounted to the adjustable bearing bracket 5 at 6. The bearing bracket 5 is adjustable relative to the base I in the followingbearing block 5 is to permit the cracking jaw 4 to be adjusted relative to its distance from the stationary jaw 2, adapting the machine to be used for different sized nuts. The cracking jaw 4 is opened and closed relative to the jaw 2 in the following manner.

A motor I0 is mounted to the base I of the machine and drives the countershaft ll through the belt I2 and pulleys I3 and I4. The countershaft II is journaled' within suitable bearing blocks I5 and may be ofthe usual construction. An eccentric I6 is fixedly mounted to the end of the shaft II and has an eccentric strap I'I therearound. Extending from this strap is a threaded boss I8, upon which is threaded the sleeve I9. Within the opposite end of the sleeve I9 is threaded the eye-bolt 20. The eye-bolt 20 is pivotally journaied to the adjustable bearing block 2I by the pin 22. cured to the cracking jaw 4 by the holding bolts 23.

The object of providing the threaded sleeve I9 is to adjust the length of the connecting link assembly 24 for determining the operating clearance between the cracking jaw 4 and the stationary jaw 2, this connecting link assembly is locked in adjusted position by the locking nut 25. In the operation of the cracking jaw 4, the eccentric II will oscillate the connecting link 24 opening The bearing block 2I is se- 7 and closing the cracking jaw 4 relative to the stationary jaw 2. Again I do not wish to be limited to this form of operating mechanism, as other mechanical means may be employed.

I will now describe the grading mechanism of my new and improved nut grading and cracking machine. A cylindrical screen 26 is mounted to a horizontal shaft 21, the shaft 21 is journaled within suitable bearings 28, which rest upon thehopper 29, and are secured thereto by a suitable fastening means, as bolts 30, the end of the screen 26 is open at 3|. Inwardly from the opening 3| is a disc 32 mounted to the shaft 21 at 33, this disc supports the screen through the brackets 34, said brackets 34 are secured to the disc 32 at 35 and to the flange 36 at 31.

Within the screen 26 are circular inwardly extending flanges 38, these flanges act as guides for directing the nuts over the inner surface of the screen. Flanges 38 are offset through a portion of their length at 39, these offsets are for the purpose of shifting the nuts longitudinally of the screen. The screen 26 has openings 40, these openings gradually increase in size from the feed end of the screen or opening 3| until they reach the opposite end of the screen.

Extending downwardly within the hopper 29 are partitions 4| registering with the circular flanges 38, between which the different size holes 40 direct the graded nuts between the partitions 4| to the cracking jaws 2 and 4.

Referring especially to Figures 3 and 5, the cracking jaw 4 has partitions 42 vertical its face, and the space between these'partitions receive the graded nuts from the hopper 29. Referring now especially to Figure 5, it will be noted that the faces 43 of the jaw 4 are located a different distance from the stationary jaw 2, the distance increasing from left to right. This is the high spot of the invention, providing a cracking jaw graduated to crack 'diflerent sized nuts simultaneously.

The screen 26 is driven'from the countershaft 44 through the drive pulley 45, belt 46 and driven pulley 41, said pulley 41 being keyed to the shaft 62. A pulley 63 is also keyed to the shaft 62 and drives the belt 64, which is trained about the pulley 65, said pulley 65 is fixedly mounted to the shaft 21 of the screen 26. The countershaft 44 is driven from the countershaft H by the driving pulley 48, belt 49 and driven pulley 50. The countershaft 44 is mounted within suitable bearings and 52. I do not wish to be limited to the particular driving mechanism, as any speed reducing system could be employed to rotate the screen 26 slowly.

I will now describe a complete cycle of operation of the machine, a chute 53 delivers the nuts through the opening 3| of the grading screen 26, the nuts are then fed longitudinally of the screen by the circular flanges 38 and their oilsets at 39. The graduated nuts are then delivered by the hopper 29 between the partitions 4| into the space 54 between the jaws 2 and 4 and against the graduated faces 43 of the cracking jaws. The cracking jaw 4 is oscillated at a high rate of speed by the connecting link 24 operated by the eccentric mechanism, as heretofore described, the nuts are then delivered through the bottom of the jaws at 55 into the chutes 56. In order to change the stroke of the crackingjaw 4, the bearing block 2| is moved up or down on the rear face of the jaw 4, best illustrated in Figure 4. This adjustment will change the stroke of the jaw for different sized nuts to be cracked.

Referring to Figure 7, I show another preferred principle of mounting the cracking jaw, the upper side of the jaw 51 is pivotally mounted at 58, while the connecting link 59 is pivotally mounted at 60 to the lower edge of the jaw 6|, in other words in this construction I have inverted the cracking jaw to what I have illustrated in my general construction, as in some cases this may prove to be the better principle of operation.

I do not wish to be limited to the particular mechanical construction illustrated in the drawings and specification, as other forms of mechanical equivalents may be adapted to the principles claimed for my invention.

What is claimed as new is:

1. A nut cracker for cracking nuts of different sizes comprising two substantially vertical planar crushing surfaced jaw members, one positioned in front of the other and facing the same to crack nuts therebetween, means for moving one of the jaws toward and from the other jaw, one of said jaws having a plurality of planar cracking surfaces located at different distances from the face of the opposite jaw, partitions extending vertically and at right angles to one of the jaw faces to separate the cracking surfaces above mentioned, one from the other, said partitions extending toward the opposite jaw a distance sufficient to guide the nuts in separate paths according to their size but insufficient to interfere with the movement of the jaws, and means for feeding nuts of different sizes to therespe'ctiv'e jaws.

2. A nut cracker for cracking nuts of different sizes, comprising two relatively-movable crushing jaws, the first jaw having a nut-cracking face in one flxed plane, the second jaw having an integral nut-cracking area comprising a plurality of independent relatively-fixed nut-cracking faces for cooperation with the nut-cracking face of the first jaw, the independent cracking faces of the second jaw being in fixed planes relatively offset longitudinally of the jaw with respect to the plane of the first jaw, means on the second jaw for segregating the material cooperating with one cracking face from that cooperating with another such face, and a single adjustable means for operating one of the jaws relative to the other.

3. A construction as defined in claim 2, wherein the segregating means for the second jawineludes partitions extending beyond the cracking faces of the second jaw toward the first'jaw to prevent any possible contact betweenjg, cracking faces of the, respective jaws, wh reby'j'to insure in operation the cracking of the s'hellsbf the nuts without material crushing of the nut-meats.

4. A construction as defined-in claim 2,'wherein the cracking faces of the second jaw are spaced at varying distances from the plane of the cracking face of the first jaw, with such distances progressively increasing from one end of the sec- 

